


It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

by Fandoms_Are_Life37



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: America is a Dork (Hetalia), America is a little angel and I love him, And he tries so hard, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Christmas Presents, Christmas traditions, England is trying his best, Fluff, He's adorable, Human & Country Names Used (Hetalia), M/M, Past FrUk Referenced, Song: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Andy Williams), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, he's too pure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:28:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24633085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandoms_Are_Life37/pseuds/Fandoms_Are_Life37
Summary: Arthur still doesn't have a Christmas gift for Alfred and time is running out before Alfred's big Christmas party.
Relationships: America & England (Hetalia), America/England (Hetalia)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

**Author's Note:**

> Word count: 2,171
> 
> Estimated read time: 12 minutes
> 
> Yeah, so I know all I ever write anymore is smut and angst. I understand that. I think it's because that's all I am anymore but I thought to myself, hey, it's Christmas! Maybe I should write something happy. So this is what happened.

"Are you done with all your Christmas shopping?" Francis asked Arthur.

"No! I've barely even started and it's Christmas Eve."

"Surely you at least have something for Amerique?"

Arthur shook his head, looking out the coffee shop window at the New Yorkers scrambling through snowy streets to get into taxis or steel buildings. "Nope. I tried to find something but there was nothing I looked at and thought, 'Hey, that's perfect!' when I saw it. Now I've ruined it all. His favorite holiday is going to suck because I'm the worst boyfriend ever!"

Arthur's head dropped down onto the table, nearly toppling his hot tea, but Francis snatched it out of the way in the nick of time. "Oh, mon amie, it's not ruined. You know, I have an idea for the perfect Christmas gift."

"What?" He asked, sitting up and leaning against the window.

"Well, you know what his favorite thing in the whole world is, don't you?"

"Hamburgers."

"No."

"Fireworks."

"He does love those a lot, but no."

"Nuclear weapons."

Francis snorted. "Not quite. Come on, be serious. What does America love?"

"His people. He'd die for them. Do you want me to send his country support money? Help with their economy? I mean, he is in deep debt with China. Or I guess I could talk to the Prime Minister to work out some kind of new trade deal. But his moronic President just put a 25% tax on my goods, so really, it'd be better for him to get rid of that for my present."

"You're such an idiot, Angleterre. No! You!"

Arthur furrowed his brow. "Me?"

"Oui, you!"

"That doesn't make any sense. How am I supposed to be a Christmas gift? We're already dating."

Francis raised a brow, sipping his hot chocolate and licking it off his lips suggestively. "I'm sure you'll think of something."

Arthur's face flushed red. "No! No, I'm going to get him a legitimate present."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself. But if I had a boyfriend like him, I'd take every chance I could to get pounded and-"

"Stop, stop! Ugh, you're disgusting, you bloody frog!"

"You know I'm right."

"No. I'll just get him a... a gift card."

Francis rolled his eyes, sitting back in his chair. "Boring! Whatever, England. It's your relationship and he's your boyfriend, so if you disappoint him, that's on you."

"You are not helpful."

"On the contrary, I think my ideas were very good. You're just a prude."

"Am not!"

"I know."

Arthur tried to sputter out a response to his friend (and ex-boyfriend) but he had none. Instead, he left some change on the table to tip their waitress- which was a ridiculous practice, by the way- and headed out into the bitter cold of New York City.

*************

Alfred could barely contain himself. Christmas was finally here and he had the best ideas.

First, there was going to be a massive party. Everyone was invited: Antonio, Lovino, Feliciano, Ludwig, Matthew, Roderich, Natalya, Yao, Tino, Francis, Heracles, Elizabeth, Kiku, Gilbert, the whole Kirkland family, and even Ivan. Other countries, too, but he couldn't remember the whole guest list.

He'd combined everyone's holiday traditions in his party so that no one would be left out, meaning it was a little hodgepodge-like, but it would be awesome.

To make Antonio happy, there was a crown-shaped cake.

For Lovino and Feliciano, there were tons of fish, per Italian custom.

Matthew didn't have many Christmas traditions that were different from Alfred's, but he brought a moose and set it loose in the backyard so that he'd feel at home.

In consideration of Roderich, there were Barbara twigs in the decorations.

Natalya's country, Belarus, also celebrated Christmas on January 7th, so he gave her an extra Christmas gift to open in thirteen days.

Yao had one of the coolest traditions, in Alfred's opinion. He would hang paper lanterns and ornaments up everywhere, so that's exactly what Alfred did. In China, they used plastic trees (since lanterns could be a bit of a fire hazard), but then they wouldn't have that delicious pine smell, so Alfred just didn't put any beside the tree so that he could still use a real one.

Tino was always ecstatic about the holidays, so he'd helped Alfred set up and somehow assembled a Christmas sauna within just a few hours. Finland knew how to party right.

In France, people put their shoes out for Santa to fill instead of stockings. So there was a long line of shoes that Alfred had found in the back of his closet stuffed with candy. He hoped that Francis would still like them, even if they were an assortment of mismatched Nikes, Adidases, and a couple of light-up Sketchers.

For Heracles, he'd made dozens of painted boats that he hung up or placed on tables. A couple even had Greek flags, though he found them hard to draw, and thus, there weren't many of them.

In order to please Elizabeth, he baked a bunch of Hungarian poppy seed desserts. He just hoped that they tasted good. He was never the best baker.

There was a sponge cake decorated carefully with strawberries and whipped cream for Kiku beside a roast chicken on the food table.

While Prussia didn't technically exist anymore, his country was essentially Germany. So for Gilbert and Ludwig, he had mulled wine to drink.

The Kirkland family had a lot of members, his boyfriend being the most notable to him. In his country, it was very similar to an American Christmas, aside from Yule Logs, so he got one for the party.

Alastair Kirkland hadn't been celebrating Christmas for very long (it wasn't an official Scottish holiday until 1958) and thus didn't have any notable traditions, but he served alcohol, so hopefully, he'd be satisfied.

Dylan Kirkland had some cool Welsh traditions like wassailing. Unfortunately, he didn't think everyone would want to go caroling and Dylan hardly celebrated anymore.

Seamus Kirkland would leave a candle burning all night for the holiday, so there were plenty of candles in the windows.

Sealand wasn't a country. That much everyone agreed on (except Peter Kirkland himself) and he didn't have any unique Christmas traditions. Alfred had scoured the internet for hours trying to find something, but his winter holidays were just like Arthur's. That was alright, though. Considering he was basically part of the UK, he'd probably be satisfied with what Alfred had set up for his brothers.

Like Natalya, Ivan celebrated Christmas on January seventh, but Alfred got him a second present so that he wouldn't feel left out during the party.

Everything was in place, including a menorah for the Jewish countries, and the party would be awesome.

Then they'd have a holiday gift exchange and finally, everyone would go home so that Alfred could spend time with Arthur one-on-one. He had worked really hard to find the perfect presents for him and it was all going to pay off.

After that was uncertain. Maybe he'd watch a movie. Maybe he'd go on a walk. Who knows? Maybe he and Arthur could have some special time together (wink, wink).

Whatever happened, it was going to be the most amazing Christmas ever!

*************

Arthur was not enjoying Alfred's party.

He should have been. There was music and food and all of his friends were at the party, but the gift swap was going to happen in half an hour and he was worried.

"England!" Alfred exclaimed, grabbing his hand and pulling him through the happy, chattering crowd. "I have to show you something!"

"What? Where are you taking me?"

Alfred didn't answer until they stopped in front of his fireplace. "Tada!"

"I don't get it."

"It's a Yule Log!" Alfred pointed. "Google said that back home you guys burn these so I got one! Do you like it?"

Arthur grinned. "Awww, darling, you thought of me!"

"Of course I did! And I've got the awesomest present for you later. You're going to think it's the best!"

Oh, and the anxiety was back. In fact, it was so bad that he didn't even correct Alfred's grammar. "Haha, yeah. That's great, America."

"Cool! I'll see you in a minute, I've got to go show France the shoes!"

He was gone before Arthur could get in another word. His gaze drifted back to the log burning in the fireplace and guilt twisted in him again. The last thing he wanted to do was disappoint Alfred. He'd spent most of his life trying to make him happy in every way possible, whether it was with endless praise, gifts, or undying admiration. Even when Alfred was young, Arthur was constantly tripping over himself to give him whatever he wanted.

Arthur could distinctly remember one of their first Christmases together. He'd made him small wooden soldiers and gave him a bunch of new clothes. Alfred had been delighted, even though he worried he wouldn't like them.

Another time, they'd argued about something petty and so Arthur didn't get him their usual chocolates for Valentine's Day. Alfred had pouted about it all week until he gave in and bought him double the number of sweets he normally gave him.

This time, Alfred may be even more disappointed. Watching him bounce around the party, beaming and talking to all his friends made Arthur feel worse. He didn't want to crush his spirit.

"Gift time!" Alfred announced.

Everyone besides Arthur cheered, hurrying to arrange into a circle and get the presents they had for one another.

"I'm going first!" Alfred declared. "I've got the coolest stuff to give you guys!"

He was right. Everything he gave, people loved, even if the price tag wasn't high. To Feliciano, he gave a big container of pasta. Lovino got tomatoes. Ludwig received potatoes. Matthew got a brand new hockey bag, Roderich got a big book of sheet music, Yao was given fancy chopsticks, Kiku got a video game set, Francis received some new clothes, and a few other things were given to other nations.

Mostly, Arthur was distracted. He didn't notice the majority of the exchanges. In fact, Dylan had to tap him on the shoulder to snap him out of his trance and accept a present from Seamus.

Alistair gave him a card. When he opened it, he got exactly what he expected- a stupid joke and a sloppy signature.

Francis gave him lingerie, which made everyone laugh except Arthur, who was beet red and cussing him out.

The rest of the night was a blur. He recalled saying goodbye to his brothers and making Peter promise to be careful with his brand new toy airplane before sending him off, but other than that, he was unsure.

Alfred decided that party cleanup could wait until tomorrow and dragged him to sit by the fireplace and the Yule log he had so thoughtfully picked out.

"Are you ready?" Alfred asked, looking like he was about to explode with excitement.

"Yeah."

He thrust a messily wrapped box into his arms, eyes twinkling in the firelight. Arthur tore the wrapping paper and put it in a pile before opening the box. Inside was a package of fine teas, the super-soft socks he asked for, tickets to see a Broadway show (Not Hamilton. They had both agreed that was one best seen separately), a leatherbound copy of Great Expectations (Arthur's favorite book), and a rose for a romantic cherry on top.

Arthur gasped, removing the items one by one before looking up into Alfred's eager face. "Oh, I love it, America, thank you!"

Alfred smiled. "Merry Christmas."

"Happy Christmas, love," Arthur replied, a teasing grin on his lips. "Okay, do you want yours?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Laughing lightly and trying to ignore the somersaults in his stomach, he passed America his present. It had a bow on top and a tag hanging off the ribbon binding it shut.

As fast as possible, Alfred untied the ribbon, pulled off the bow, and opened it up.

He reached in, grabbing the paper inside and reading it over. As he read, his eyes teared up and he sniffled.

Panicked, Arthur apologized. "I'm sorry! Why are you crying? Are you okay? I know it's not anything you asked for or-"

"England, it's perfect!" He exclaimed, setting down a beautifully written poem. "I love you so much!"

Arthur only had seconds to think before he was tackled to the ground, crushed in a hug. "Ah! Careful!"

"Sorry," said Alfred, voice muffled since his face was pressed against Arthur's chest. "Thank you!"

"I'm glad you like it. I was worried you wouldn't."

Alfred lifted himself up on his elbows, looking down at Arthur with an expression that could only be described as adoring. "Of course I like it. No, I don't just like it- I love it. You're the best boyfriend ever."

Blushing, Arthur replied, "Thanks. I love you, too."

And finally, finally, Alfred leaned down to kiss him.

The songs were right. It really was the most wonderful time of the year.


End file.
